Medical suction apparatus has long been used in hospitals to remove fluids from patients during various medical procedures. Such suction apparatus has included glass and plastic containers or receptacles for receiving fluids.
Another type of apparatus used to receive and contain fluid from a patient includes a rigid outer canister having a disposable bag-like liner therein, such as shown in Pannier Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,560 and in Deaton U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,745,999, 3,780,738 and 3,814,098. Such liners are thin-walled pliable plastic members which do not have enough rigidity to maintain their shape. The canisters each include a cover with a patient port for receiving fluid from a patient and a vacuum port for restablishing a vacuum within the liner. The vacuum draws fluid through the patient port for collection in the liner. The vacuum port also applies countervailing vacuum to the space between the outer canister and inner flexible liner in order to cause the liner to expand to an open configuration.
Prior receptacles with disposable flexible liners have suffered one or more disadvantages. When the liner is filled with fluid and removed from the rigid outer canister, the liner is hard to handle and store because of its flexibility. Furthermore, since the liner is in the form of a pliable bag filled with liquid, special disposal handling is required in order to prevent puncturing or bursting due to contact with sharp objects. The flexible liners also can provide erroneous liquid level readings if not fully opened during filling or while being handled.
Another drawback of prior receptacles with flexible liners is the lack of completely satisfactory mounting structure for the liner and cover in conjunction with the outer canister. The interior of the liner and the space between the liner and the outer canister must both be sealed, but yet be easily removable when desired. A need has arisen to satisfy these sealing and removal requirements with simple and efficient mounting structure.
While prior receptacles wich disposable flexible liners have been useful for their intended purposes, the present invention relates to improvements thereover, particularly in the liner and in a simple and efficient mounting assembly for the cover, liner and canister which provides significantly enhanced sealing characteristics.